I 860 ] 
Aftx-ERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
131 
Notes and Replies to Correspondents, with Useful or 
interesting Extracts from their Letters, S,c., dfC.—to be drawn 
from as we have room left here. 
To Correspondents—Questions yet 
answered.— Probably more letters of inquiry on prac¬ 
tical topics aie addressed to the Agriculturist than to any 
other periodical in the country. This is due not alone to 
the large and wide spread circulation of this journal, but 
especially to the fact that it is mainly devoted to those de¬ 
partments of labor, which involve an almost enaless vari¬ 
ety of details. How many questions are com acted with 
the selection, breeding, rearing, and care of animals ; so 
of the multitudinous field crops, fruits, garden vegetables, 
flowers, and household labors. Why, one man could ask 
more questions on these topics than ten ot the wisest men 
could answer intelligently and thoroughly. What must 
be the result, then, when there are fifty thousand practi¬ 
cal, thinking men, all reading the same journal! We 
have at this very moment not less than four or five hun¬ 
dred specific inquiries, embracing all sorts of agricultural 
and household subjects. Many of these we shall feel able 
to respond to promptly as we come to them. Many others 
will each require hours of thought, inquiry, and investiga¬ 
tion. Thus, for example, in the first three letters taken 
at random, we read: “What is the comparative value 
of lime and unleached ashes from different kinds of 
wood 1” “ What is the Lapland Kale; will it grow here; 
where can the seed be obtained!” “What are the re¬ 
spective merits of the different farm mills before the pub¬ 
lic—and which would you recommend 1” And perhaps 
the next three, five, ten, or a hundred letters, will contain 
similar queries. We could give an off-hand opinion on 
nearly all of these topics; but we trust our readers look 
for something more than this ; they want only well ground¬ 
ed opinions—at least we are only willing to offer such ; 
and so at the risk of losing an editor’s reputation for 
knowing everything, we must, with the assistance of our 
associates, take up these topics as we can. We seldom 
throw aside any query of general interest, but keep every 
thing of this character until it becomes practicable to re¬ 
spond by a direct answer, or by a general article cover¬ 
ing the ground. [There is not a number of the Agri¬ 
culturist printed, in which there are not many single par¬ 
agraphs that have each cost some one of the editors hours 
of investigation and thought. A single recent article (on 
sun-dials) has been on the writer’s mind for a year or 
more, and he has written perhaps a score of letters, and 
examined thousands of pages of printed matter, to be able 
to write what may have appeared to the reader to have 
been a mere off-hand sketch. And the same may be said 
of many other articles.] 
Questions upon Fruit Trees, etc —Answers 
to many of these w ill be found scattered through the Cal¬ 
endar of Operations, on pages 98, 99, etc. 
Trees Partly Buried.— J. B. Firth, Wayne Co., 
Mich. Where earth is raised about the trunks of large 
trees by grading or otherwise, they will sometimes live, 
and may be trimmed up to keep their proportions. In a 
majority of cases, it will be better to set new trees than 
to attempt raising the old ones. 
Apples for Minnesota. —S. Schultz,Fillmore Co, 
Minn. Rhode Island Greening, Twenty Ounce Pippin, 
Ribston Pippin, Esopus Spitzenberg, and Yellow Belle- 
flower, will probably succeed with you, and are desirable 
Winter apples; while Early Harvest, Gravenstein, Porter, 
an 1 American Summer Pearmain, are good early and Au¬ 
tumn sorts. Perhaps other fine varieties are known to 
succeed well in your immediate vicinity. If so, plant 
them. Set the trees no deeper than they grew in the 
nursery, use the same earth dug out of the hole, if rich; 
if not, add a little compost, or introduce good soil, and set 
30 feet apart for the general orchard. 
Various Grapes—The best.—In response to the 
question on page 83 last month, Messrs. Bissell & Salter 
fay : “ We do recognize the descriptions, but not as be¬ 
longing to our ‘new and costly varieties’—in fact we 
have few varieties at any price, which answer the de¬ 
scriptions of those ‘American grapes two centuries 
ago’; and of these the Erickson and Dartmouth are so 
nearly alike, as to be almost one and the same variety. 
The Charter Oak is another of these varieties ; but we 
consider it utterly worthless—good for nothing. [So do 
we. Ed.] The Northern Muscadine is one of the best Fox 
grapes, even better than the Perkins. But we recom¬ 
mend none of the Fox grapes as worthy of cultivation, ex¬ 
cept under peculiar circumstances, or for very early ri¬ 
pening, etc. We grow many vines, high-priced, low- 
priced, and fancy, simply because it is our business to 
supply what the market demands, but we would under 
no circumstances urge a man to buy a plant, because it is 
a high-priced kind. We do advise people to buy the De¬ 
laware, because it is good, and because every Horticul¬ 
tural Society in the U. S. has thus far placed it at the 
head of their several lists of hardy, native American 
grapes. A grape so unanimously recommended will bear 
urging.... We also recommend Diana, because it and the 
Concord are only surpassed by the Delaware”.. [We place 
the Hartford Prolific nearly on a par with, or equal to the 
Concord. The Delaware, Diana, and Concord, or the 
Hartford Prolific, are good enough, and give variety 
enough for general cultivation.—E d.] 
Arbor Vitae for Hedges.—Alex. Rankin, Kan¬ 
sas. The Arbor Vitae is planted for ornamental purposes, 
as a screen, and to shelter grounds, rather than to fence 
against stock. For the latter purpose, Buckthorn, Honey 
Locust, or Osage Orange are better. 
Ground Hemlock tTaxus baccata). —H. Weaver, 
Hamilton, Pa. By your sketch and description of the 
evergreen shrub alluded to, it is recognized as that of the 
American Yew, usually called ground Hemlock. The 
shrub or bush is quite straggling in habit, not very com¬ 
mon, nor of much beauty. 
Patent Insect Powders.—I. Pearre, Frederic 
Co., Md. Various poisons will kill insects if properly 
applied. Mercurial ointment well rubbed into the back 
of every midge, weevil, and caterpillar would be a sure 
remedy—the difficulty is, to apply it. So of the greatly 
advertised insect powders_One man has a patent bel¬ 
lows for projecting the powder forcibly upon the insects. 1 
A housekeeper would have quite a time of it, “ puffing 
and blowing” through every crack where ants, cock¬ 
roaches, and other vermin hide 1 We can not recommend 
any one of these insect powders. 
To Destroy Moles.— Frederic F. Nuide, King 
George Co., Va., writes that moles may be destroyed by 
placing in their paths, pills made of a grain of calomel 
each, mixed with a little corn bread [Why not use 
arsenic or strychnine if it is desirable to destroy them.— 
Ed.] He also states that, in that section, the Castor Oil 
Plant or Palma Christi, ( Ricinus Communis,) is grown in 
gardens with a belief that moles will not remain in' 
the vicinity where it is raised. 
That Nameless Plant .—' 1 H.” Biddeford, Me., 
writes that from the brief description of the plant noticed 
in the Jan. Agriculturist, page 19, he gives a Yankee 
guess that it is Goodyera pubescens, or G. repens, of the or¬ 
der Orchidaceae. Mr. Ignatz Pilat, of the Central Park 
office in this city, also gives the latter name, G. repens. 
Referring to Gray’s Manual, we find the description cor¬ 
responds so nearly, that there is little doubt of the identity. 
Planting: Tansy around Peach Trees. 
—S. Huff, Phelps County, Mo., recommends this to keep 
worms off and says he has tried it. It may be a partial 
remedy against some kinds of infects, but probably not 
many. The fact that we dislike the bitter tansy, is not a 
certain indication that any of the insect tribes shun it— 
their tastes are unlike ours. 
Coal Tar a Preventive o£ Borers.—T. 
F. Jenkins, Orange County, N. Y., finds coal tar applied 
to the trunks of his fruit trees, for about a foot from the 
ground upwards, a sure preventive. This is, doubtless 
the case; but the tar applied direct, often injures the 
tree. It may be spread upon paper, and wound about 
the tree without danger. The paper itself is usually 
sufficient. 
Buist’s Flower Garden Directory. —F. A. 
Schultz, St. Louis Co., Mo. This book gives the botan¬ 
ical and most of the common names of flowers, with 
directions for culture. Good, for a small, practical work. 
Barometers for Fanners.— L. Gibbs, Trum¬ 
bull Co., Ohio. We believe a barometer one of the most 
useful things on a farm. Their cost, their liability to 
breakage, and the difficulty of adjusting them by unskill¬ 
ful persons, have prevented their introduction generally. 
We have recently examined an aneroid or spring barom¬ 
eter, now manufactured in this country, which dispenses 
with mercury, and is very convenient. It appears to be a 
very good instrument, and after a careful investigation of 
its accuracy and merits, we shall tell our readers more 
about it. We think it will be the instrument for common 
use. 
Tar on Seed Corn.—J. B. Pease, of Stearns Co., 
Minn., asks how to use coal tar on corn, to prevent crows 
from pulling it. Ans. —Thin it with a little water so that 
the corn can be stirred around easily, then dry the corn 
with lime or ashes. Common tar is quite as good as 
coal or gas tar, though neither of them wilt always pre¬ 
vent hungry crows from pulling the plants. The tar and 
lime, or ashes, are good for the seed—crows or no crows. 
Wrens.— What good do they do! O. W. True, a 
Maine boy, writes that, like most boys in a new country, 
he was brought up to believe the wren a naughty maraud¬ 
ing bird, delighting in destroying eggs of other birds, and 
doing all manner of mischief, and that this, and indeed*' 
all kinds of birds, were lawful game for every gunner. 
He rightly thinks, that as soon as farmer boys are taught 
the real uses of any particular bird, they will become in¬ 
terested in its doings, and in its preservation, just as much 
as in any useful domestic animal. He suggests that some 
one entirely familiar with the habits, food, etc , of the 
wren, should give through the Agriculturist a brief ac¬ 
count of them. 
Artesian Wells—An Inquiry-.— An item is 
going the rounds, to the effect that the deepest Artesian 
Well in the world is at Columbus, Ohio ; that it is 2,300- 
feet deep ; and that it is proposed to carry it still deeper 
if money can be raised. We would like lo know* the* 
truth of this statement, and if true to also learn some par¬ 
ticulars of the method of boring, size of the cavity, and* 
any other particulars of interest. Perhaps some sub¬ 
scribers residing at or near Columbus, can give the infor¬ 
mation. 
Deep Plowing:—Planting: Wlaeal. —Joseph 
Lynn, of St. Clair Co., Ill., says he may be getting insane, 
(as was hinted in a recent number of the Agriculturist,) 
but his insanity seems to pay, for his insane plow ing, deep 
and close, last Spring, brought a much largeryield of corn 
and oats. He is so far gone, as to try planting wheat: that 
is, he last Fall plowed 10 acres 8 inches deep, using three 
horses abreast, and going twice in the furrow. He then 
marked it off in rows, and dropped the seed by hand—13 
bushels on the 10 acres—covering it with a one-horse 
plow. It has made an excellent growth, and so far 
promises well. We shall be glad to hear the result at. 
harvest. 
Manure Questions—Banes.— These are so* 
numerous, that we are compelled to refer inquirers to the- 
chapters on Manure, now being published in this journal: 
That series of articles will, before it closes, probably 
answer every question yet asked, and many others. 
With regard to bones, we will here say briefly, to some 
two dozen questions before us, that where immediate 
effect is desired, they should be reduced to the finest pow¬ 
der. For fruit-trees and vines, where the effect is to be 
prolonged over many years, merely breaking them to 
convenient pieces will answer. On good soil, we use 
three to five barrels per acre for field culture, and twice 
as much in the garden. On poor soils a larger amount is 
needed. We use little other manure; bone saw-dust is 
the thing for us, no matter what the crop. 
Manuring and Sub-soiling.— Shall we ma¬ 
nure and sub-soil land the same year! C. and E. Chat- 
field, of Lincoln Co., Me. Certainly, stir the sub-soil 
well, and manure the surface soil ; either operation only 
makes the other more effective. 
Large Yield of Wlieaf.—R. B. Haviland, Cay¬ 
uga Co., N. Y., raised last season 772 bushels of wheat 
on 18£ acres, a little over 41 bushels^per acre. The soil 
was a retentive clay but thoroughly underdrained with tile 
It was top-dressed w ith 4 bbls. of salt, and 5 bbls. plaster. 
We presume the ground was otherwise well manured, 
though no statement is given. The draining helped to* 
do the business. 
Peacli Mlo'.v Potatoes.— Z. Colgrove, Warren: 
Co., Pa. We know but one variety of the Peach Blow 
Potato ; it may be slightly changed in appearance by. 
difference in soils It is white fleshed, boiling somewhat: 
dry and mealy, and has latterly been a favorite w ith many 
in this vicinity. Last season, however, it rotted about as, 
badly as other varieties, and we fear it will not long re¬ 
tain its good name. 
Internal breaking of an Egg.—A subscriber,, 
who says he lately lost a valuable hen by the internal, 
breaking of her egg. asks for information as to proper treat¬ 
ment, from some one who has had experience with such, 
cases. 
Sending Eggs by Express.— Mrs. J. C. Bur* 
brige. Pike Co., 111. The Poland fowl eggs might 
be obtained at the East, and if carefully packed- and 
carried, some of them would probably hatch, bat you* 
would run considerable risk of being as badly off for- 
chickens, as the milk-maid in the fable. Any one or 
those who advertise poultry in this journal, would doubt¬ 
less be able to supply you with the eggs, or what would: 
be better, with the fowls themselves. You might con 
respond with C. N. Bement, Poughkeepsie. N. Y., or 
Richard McCormick, jr., Woodhaven, Long Island, N.Y 
Making Sun Dials,—To many Inquirers. A 
plain description of the method of making these will bs 
given after the Spring work is over—probably in Juno 
